talking about computers and design
by Ralph Grabowski

Oct 04, 2012

Brcisys beware, Solidworks wants into lower cost 3D CAD market

A survey from Dassault Systemes asks Draftsight users their opinions on low-cost 3D CAD packages, like which ones do they use now, why they are using it, and what features would they like to see in a lower-cost 3D CAD package.

The survey was released ne day after Bricsys announced at the annual developer conference its intention to add more 3D modeling features to its under-$1000 BricsCAD Platinum package, a package that last year already did what SolidWorks still does not -- direct modeling.

Packages named in the survey include Alibre, Bricscad, Ashlar Vellum, Inventor LT, Rhino, Sketchup, and Solid Edge Foundation, among others. Including Inventor LT and Solid Edge Foundation strongly indicates to me the market at which Solidworks Lite could well be aimed.

The survey asks which feature users might be interested in. They are

2D drawings

Parts

Interference detection

Import-export to IGES, STEP, DWG, DXF

Mold design tools

Assembly motion

Assemblies

Rendering

Surfacing

Sheetmetal

Check for manufacturability

Most of the functions on this list are found in advanced packages; on the other hand, Bricsys is promising some of them, such as assembly motion, parts and assemblies, import/export to and from proprietary packages, and interference detection.

As for pricing, the survey asks about numbers that range from under $100 to over $2000. Those who fill out the survey can leave their contact info for further follow-up.

The first question in my mind is, who is writing the CAD package? I figure that candidates include Graebert (who wrote DraftSight), Geometric (who writes a bunch of software for Dassault, such as eDrawings), or Dassault itself.